The effects of different levels of ascorbic acid on growth performance and meat composition of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)

Abstract

The effects of different levels of vitamin C added in the diet of brook trout (34.65±0.45 g) for 10 weeks on growth, Condition Factor (CF), Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) and meat composition were investigated. Fish samples were fed on nutrition added with 0, 100, 500 and 1.000 mg/kg of L-ascorbyl-2-monophosphate (AMP). Experiment was performed using a 3×4 completely randomized factorial design. According to the results, weights at the end of experiment demonstrated differences between the treatments. The highest value was obtained as 98.34±0.10 g with the nutrition added with 500 mg/kg of vitamin C, while the lowest value was observed as 92.40±0.19 g in the control group. Differences between different levels of vitamin C were found statistically significant (P<0.01). Differences between treatment groups regarding feed conversion ratio were also found statistically significant (P<0.01). The best feed conversion ratio was determined as 1.42±0.11 on average in the group fed on nutrition with 500 mg/kg vitamin C addition, and the lowest was as 1.68±0.22 in the control group. According to the results of the analysis on the characteristics of meat composition, condition factor was found statistically insignificant (P>0.05), while hepatosomatic and viscerosomatic indices were statistically significant (P<0.05).